Radiation Hotspots

Radiation Hotspots

Radiation has been known to be among the most harmful phenomena that human beings can be subjected to. However, there are instances where the government projects carelessly failed to control the storage of the radiation rays and thereby allowed them into the society without considering the impacts that such exposure may cause to the people living in these regions. As much as the radiation was let out as an accident, the government did not respond in time to salvage the situation. According to Tabuchi, “since the early days of the nuclear accident, the world’s second-worst after Chernobyl, that that the vagaries of wind and rain had scattered worrisome amounts of radioactive materials in unexpected patterns far outside the evacuation zone 12 miles around the stricken plant”. Considering the gravity of such contents on the human body, the government was expected to have to take action immediately to stop the spread of the radiation rays.

Tokyo and Japan have also experienced some effects that were caused by the radiation spots. Following the negative impact that these rays have on the human body, scientists and medical personnel blamed the government’s failure to respond as fast as possible in the process of curbing the spread of radioactive rays. Tabuchi explains that “The reports of hot spots do not indicate how widespread contamination is in the capital; more sampling would be needed to determine that”. Most of the arguments that are waged by these scientists about the government’s irresponsibility when it came to this issue are right, but they failed to recognize the facts that the government took a step later. Some of the hot spots of the exposure landed in areas that are occupied by large populations, and these people have been absorbing the radiation contents slowly. The scientist holds great fear of the result of this exposure and how it may change the composition of the society or even the health of the occupants of these lands.

Some of the proposed recommendations that the government has received from concerned citizens and scientist includes setting up workshops that aid in checking for any signs of exposure. Since the government had not taken any action in solving the radioactive materials from spreading, it is the government’s responsibility to isolate the people who have any dangerous substances from those who do not have and evacuate the whole community to safe locations. After the evacuation process, the government can try to remove the radioactive materials from the surface and find a better place to store these substances (NEA). By doing this, the government will be eliminating the risk that is present in the society that is presented in this case. Additionally, the government can isolate the land or area that was affected so that it can be inaccessible for humans and living things and, by doing so, reduce the number of people who are affected by the radiation. Also, working with protection agencies such as the ICRP can aid in pulling funds and efforts, which can then be incorporated in the process a used in the process of finding the most effective solution in the radiation that is not only spreading but also affecting the people who are exposed.

Conclusively, the radiation hotspots following the spread of the radiation contents impacted on the society that was living nearby. Regardless of the high risk that this accident put the occupants of this region, the government did not bother to take quick action, and the people living in these places were exposed to the radiation. Even so, the government took action later in effect to protecting its people and followed some of the recommendations that were made by the ICRP. Most of them contributed to saving some people who were not exposed to radiation.

Works Cited

ICRP. “International Conference on Recovery after Nuclear accidents.” ICRP, www.icrp.org/. Accessed 7 Apr. 2020.

NEA. “Chapter II The Release, Dispersion, and Deposition of Radionuclides – Chernobyl: Assessment of Radiological and Health Impact.” Nuclear Energy Agency, www.oecd-nea.org/rp/chernobyl/c02.html. Accessed 7 Apr. 2020.

Tabuchi, Hiroko. “Citizens’ Testing Finds 20 Hot Spots Around Tokyo.” The New York Times,